As a result of today's economy, many people are looking to downsize the footprint of their living spaces. A reality of smaller sized houses and or apartments is that there is less room for furniture. Large tables are often one of the first pieces of furniture to be sacrificed to space saving efforts. Convertible furniture is an efficient way to save floor space and maintain functionality. The temporary need for the large surface that a table provides either for meal time or project time is one example of where space saving features of convertible furniture could be efficiently utilized. It is desirable to have a large table that does not require being stored in a closet.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,017,200 to Reppas, et al. discloses a convertible furniture assembly having a bed frame pivotally coupled to a frame assembly. The assembly contains a bed surface and a table surface and is counterweighted to enable operation by a single user. However, the bedding surface needs to be removed in order to function as a table and the table working surface is smaller than the bedding surface therefore not maximizing efficiency and losing functionality.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,691,342 to Sherman discloses a convertible furniture unit having a base and a pivotally connected bed platform. Once the bed platform moves to a stored position, a table panel pivotally connected to the underside of the bed platform is propped into place by a spring loaded or linear actuated extension. While the furniture piece may be operated by a single user, the bedding surface must be prepped for stowage and the resulting work surface of the table is significantly smaller than the bedding surface it replaces. Additionally, the bedding surface is custom to this particular piece of furniture and cannot be utilized elsewhere.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,566,256 to Snyder discloses a two section, folding cabinet table top. The resulting table top is capable being deployed by a single user, but the table top takes up more floor space that the cabinet alone and the table surface is hindered by hinges thus is limited in functionality.
U.S. Pat. No. 845,117 to Peters discloses a combination bed and table apparatus. The apparatus cannot accommodate a standard bed frame, the bedding material must be removed and stored separately, and the crank used to position the table surface in place does not significantly offset the weight of the table surface.
There is a need for convertible furniture that can be easily operated by one user, does not require any prepping of the converted area, does not require any rearrangement of the current furniture, is compatible with existing furniture, provides a surface that maximizes the space where the furniture sits, is completely functional whatever formation is being utilized, and does not require extra storage space.